Spring Nighmares

I woke up this morning panting, out of breath, my pillow soaking wet, feeling panic-stricken. But at least I got my spring physics nightmare over with.

You see every spring I have nightmares. Most of them center on events that happened many years ago going back to high school mostly. Why do I remember and have nightmares about things that happened years ago in high school? There are three of them mainly. Every spring I have at least one nightmare per memory.

The physics one goes like this. I’m in my last semester of high school. The end is in sight. Graduation is coming in May. The nightmare is that I’m behind in physics. We have a project due to be turned in by the end of the semester. It’s April and I can’t remember what my project was supposed to be. I’m afraid to ask the teacher. Since I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, it stands to reason that I haven’t done anything. Even though this is high school, I haven’t been going to class. I haven’t a clue.

So there I am sweating it, thinking I’ll flunk physics and won’t graduate. What will I say to my Mother? I’ll be embarrassed and ruined for life. I’ll be a high school dropout. So I wake up like I did this morning.

Then there is that 7th grade science project. We had to collect 25 different insects and the leaves from 10 different trees that spring of 7th grade. Ever try and find 25 different insects? It’s harder than it sounds.

In the dream I’m crawling around in the back yard trying to rake up insects with my hands. I’m walking around the neighborhood collecting leaves, but no matter how different the trees look, when I pull off a leaf, the leaves all look the same.

Isn’t it horrible to have such bad memories of school?

Then there’s the senior athletic banquet. I can’t find a date. I ask various girls (none of whom I ever recognize as being in my class) and they all have dates already. Oh, the embarassment of going to the athletic banquet stag! I would never live it down.

After this nightmare, I usually wake up moaning, “No, no, no.”

So I’ve had the physics one. The other two are yet to come. I dread it because I know the other two are coming.